Apopka man to spend next 35 years in prison for drug trafficking

Regional Report

September 5, 2009|By Susan Jacobson, Sentinel Staff Writer

An Apopka man was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison for his part in a cocaine-trafficking ring. Javier Romo-Jimenez, a member of the Mexican-American Sur 13 street gang, was responsible for trafficking hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of powder and crack cocaine, prosecutors said. He was one of 36 defendants indicted in the case after an 11-month investigation. The other 35 defendants have been sentenced, prosecutors said. Wiretaps unveiled a trafficking operation that received cocaine from Mexico and sold it in Apopka, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Orlando, Eustis, Zellwood and Mount Dora. Romo-Jimenez, 32, was fined $510,000 in addition to the prison time.